Audi A7 owner – long install, defective unit, poor support
I purchased a Merge Screens/Aucar large‑screen CarPlay unit for my 2014 Audi A7 and had it installed by a professional Audi aftermarket shop. The experience was extremely disappointing.
The first unit never worked correctly. Merge Screens and Aucar support eventually decided a part was defective and said they would send a replacement. It took roughly two weeks to get that part, with conflicting information about when it was actually handed over to DHL and an additional import fee charged to me. The part that arrived was labeled for an Audi A6, and I was told “A6 and A7 are the same.”
After the replacement box was installed, the system briefly worked (MMI controls and CarPlay audio) and then failed again the next day with a black screen and dead MMI controls—the same symptoms as the original unit. My installer verified wiring, power, and fuses, and repeatedly asked for harness pin‑out diagrams. Support responses were slow (including a Chinese New Year delay) and mostly limited to “check the fuse,” “reconnect all plugs,” and speculation that “the motherboard may have burned out,” without providing detailed technical documentation.
Eventually Merge Screens admitted that the only option they could offer was to return the unit for a refund and that “a new unit will not solve the issues, until we get to the bottom of it.” I did receive a refund for the device, but I was left with a $1,250 bill from the installer for the initial install, repeated troubleshooting, removal of the defective unit, and re‑installation of my original Audi parts. The installer did his job and spent significant time trying to make a clearly problematic product work.
In my opinion, this product did not perform as advertised, and the support process was slow, inconsistent, and ultimately unable to resolve the problems. I would not recommend Merge Screens for Audi A7 owners, especially if your car is a daily driver and you cannot afford weeks of downtime and unpaid extra labor chasing defective hardware.






